Family Life

For years I fell into the trap of “mummy guilt” Were we doing enough? Did I play with them enough? Were we going out enough? Did they get enough exercise? Were they being ‘socialised’? The mummy guilt was strong! Well, do you know what? Fuck that shit! I was 34 when I had Big L. I had big plans on how he would be raised. I would be a gentle parent, I hoped to home school (yes I still have an urge to do that, he’s 7 now – there’s still time, right?) he would attend a forest preschool and so on and so forth.Read More →

Why Becoming a Young Parent Isn’t a Bad Thing Worried about the perils of parenthood? You aren’t alone. With staggering figures revealing that most Brits don’t feel like they’re adults themselves until age 26, the idea of raising a child might seem a daunting and unmanageable prospect for younger people. The same study found that most people don’t even take on the responsibility of doing their own laundry until the age of 21. Could having a kid be a realistic aim in a society where even this simplest of disciplines is taken on so long after the legal age of adulthood? Today, we’re going to analyseRead More →

Way back when I was a twenty-something there was no such thing as a “box set”, the best I had was a video recorder I would go out for the evening and pray that the video recorder was actually recording whatever it was that was cool at the time. These days we have Sky, or Netflix or Virgin Media (other television providers are available) and with them come…the BOX SET Being the parent of two small boys I don’t get out much. In the last 7 years we have come to love box sets. We snuggle up on the sofa in the evening and feed ourRead More →

As you may know if you have read my previous posts (if not why not, it’s not too late! Read them straight after this, you won’t regret it!) Monsieur Incidental is French. Like proper French, with an accent and everything. His family still live in France and we usually visit them once a year. These days we usually choose to drive. Driving in France isn’t as bad as it might sound. We like to make it a road trip. With two children it can be a *cough* adventure. I often see requests for tips on driving in France or cries for help in keeping childrenRead More →

We’ve recently been teaching our 6-year-old to ride a bike. What with all my operations, babies and so on we never got round to it before. We did get him a balance bike and it came out once or twice. We took him to a local car park (on a Sunday when it was shut – we’re not mad!) but we didn’t persevere. This is a shame as I think he would have benefited from learning earlier and how cute does he look? He currently has one with stabilisers. The other Sunday we decided to give it a go on the road outside our houseRead More →

This time in 2016 I was a fat waddling mess. You, my son, were two weeks late and I had had enough. I went into hospital to be induced only to find you were in distress and hours later you were born into the world, dragged through the sunroof to the voice of Freddie Mercury and the sound of Queen. He gave you your middle name. It seemed apt. You had the cord wrapped around your neck. You weren’t breathing and you were resuscitated and whisked away to SCBU while I was being stitched back together. There was talk of brain damage and moving youRead More →

Although I am not one I was raised by a single parent. Single parents come in many guises, men, women, straight, gay, they work, they don’t, they have one child, they have many. Some single parents have an ex partner that helps shoulder the load of childcare whilst others are, well, absent. My Father cluttered off when I was seven and I stopped seeing him altogether at around 9 or 10. This is for my mum and all the other single parents (yes, this is for the dads too) that rock the hell out of it! I see you, single parent, wiping tears, noses andRead More →

Did you know there are a wide range of benefits which come from encouraging your children to grow their own fruit and veg? It may sound unlikely, but children actually enjoy gardening. So, if you’re looking to start up a new hobby with the kids, or you want to simply get them out of the house and away from technology for a while, here you’ll discover the benefits of encouraging them to grow their own fruit and veg. It boosts their development Gardening has shown to be an excellent tool for child development. It teaches them responsibility as they have to care for the fruitRead More →

In case it has escaped your notice Mother’s Day is fast approaching. As usual I have left this guide until the last minute…unless you’re reading this after 11th March 2018 in which case I’m early – you’re welcome! I decided to create a list of things other than personalised tea towels, teapots and books because, well, I don’t want tea towels, teapots or books and I’m sure I’m not alone. What I would REALLY like is a night out on the tiles and a day off to suffer a hangover in peace but that isn’t going to happen so without further ado feast your eyesRead More →

I’m getting married! Well, I might be, if we ever get round to arranging it. I have been married before, we didn’t have children and we divorced after about 2 years. It wasn’t meant to be. Our wedding was at at the local register office and had our reception in a pub. Not the most romantic of days if truth be told. Next time will be different, it will be better and it will be at least a little bit romantic, this is my hope anyway! I’ll be honest I don’t really know where to start. My previous wedding was arranged on the back ofRead More →

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About Me

I'm Erica, I'm a forty something mother of two small(ish) boys. Eater of too much (but not meat), drinker of practically anything. I like nothing more than to make people laugh. If sarcasm is the lowest form of wit then I am possibly the lowest of the low - no, really.

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